MU halts senate poll at eleventh hour, Oppn says ruling parties smelt defeat

The University of Mumbai (MU) late on Thursday night announced to halt the senate election of registered graduate group scheduled for September 10, sparking an outrage among student wings of political parties. The decision was taken based on BJP leader Ashish Shelar’s allegations that there were errors in the voters list, sources said.

However, the university has yet to declare a new date.

The senate, which comprises representatives of teachers, principals, graduates and college management, is the watchdog of the university and is empowered to pass the budget. In the absence of a senate since August 2022 owing to the completion of its tenure, most decision-making powers have remained with the vice-chancellor.

As per the schedule, Friday was the last day for the graduate group candidates to submit their application forms. After voting for 10 seats - five in the open category and five in the reserved category - the result was to be declared on September 13.

On Thursday evening, the university received a letter from the deputy secretary of higher and technical education department stating that MU should consider a complaint by Shelar, begin an inquiry, and stay the election till then, officials said.

Shelar’s letter to the higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil stated that the final voter list published by MU had numerous errors. As per the letter, the names of around 755 voters have appeared twice while most of the names have been mentioned thrice.

MU then called for an urgent management council meeting and issued a circular postponing the election, the officials added.

However, the university’s sudden move has not gone down well with political parties.

Slamming the state government, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said the senate election was supposed to be held last year but was postponed. “It was to be held now and the process had begun. But, once again, it was put on hold. Once an election is announced, we devise a strategy to fight. Once a stay is issued, we wonder what has happened,” he said at a press conference at Matoshri on Friday.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Worli further said the Centre had sent forces to West Bengal in anticipation of violence during polls. “But such a situation does not exist here, and neither is there a situation like the one in Manipur. Political parties have no differences here.’’

“I know one thing that our CM (Eknath Shinde) is a darpok (coward) and he changed his party to avoid ED action. Even bypoll to the Pune Lok Sabha seat and civic elections are yet to be held,” he added.

Yuva Sena secretary Varun Sardesai took to X to air his disappointment. “Mumbai university senate election was suddenly postponed. Doing so after the announcement of the election program is illegal and a sign of panic. It is extremely dangerous for democracy to not want any elections, not even university elections, because we will not win. Protest!’

Amit Thackeray, president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s student wing Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, threatened an agitation if the university did not announce a fresh date within 20 days. “Cancellation of senate election means no election will be held. This is the first step towards dictatorship.”

He also wrote a letter to the Governor and chancellor Ramesh Bais, seeking his intervention while Aaditya Thackeray wrote to MU vice-chancellor Ravindra Kulkarni, questioning the motive behind the circular.

State Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant said, “We can understand if the government is not holding civic polls. But what is the reason behind cancelling the senate election? BJP does not have courage to face polls.”

NCP spokesperson Amol Matele said they would gherao the vice-chancellor’s office if the stay was not lifted.

In his defence, MU election officer Sunil Bhirud said the government, which acknowledged the complaint (from Shelar) about the voter list, directed the university to rectify the list and postpone the election.

“On August 17, MU received a letter from the department of higher and technical education, highlighting certain discrepancies in the final electoral roll (revised). Promptly responding to the matter, MU initiated a thorough investigation into the anomalies. The investigating team was instructed to submit a report on the same day. But given the substantial number of voters on the list and the necessity for a comprehensive investigation, the university found it imperative to seek guidance from the government,” he said.

Bhirud informed the stakeholders in a statement that MU would periodically update the election department’s website about the subsequent steps in the election process.

Shelar too defended the government’s decision, saying a lot of bogus voters were registered by Sena (UBT) and a probe was needed to weed out such voters.

Amit Dhomase, secretary of BJP’s student wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, said they too had communicated their concerns over the voter list to university on August 1.